Improvement in watch-winding attachments



UNITED STATES y PATENT OEEICE.

G. II. WILSON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HENRY WIM. DEE AND LOUISDEE, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATCH-WINDIING ATTACHMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 97,466, dated Novemberlill, 18139.

To all whom it may concern:

Be tknown that I, GEORGE HENRY WIL- SON, of London, England, haveinvented eertain new and useful Improvements in VVatohes and otherTime-Keepers; and I do hereby declarethat thefollowing isa true, full,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexeddrawings-that is to say:

The primary object of my invention is to-wind and to set or adjust thehand from the outside, and thereby to avoid the'necessity otl openingthe ease, and to dispense with thekey-hole usually required to effectthese operations, by which all chance ot' dust or dirt getting into theworks during these operations is prevented, while at the same time Idispense with the use ot' a key.

The first part of my invention consists in a disk, which forms part ot'the ordinary hinged or swinging back of a watch and the medium forwinding the watch.

In carrying out this improvement the portion of the watch which is madeto revolvesay, the back of thecase-earries a wheel which gears intoanother wheel on the mainspringarbor. I in troduee a' friction-platebetween the revolving back and the dome, and to prevent any dirt gettinginto the watch from between the revolving back of the case and the domeI form a rim or ring round an aperture in the frictionplate,in which thewheel carried Aby the back revolves, and I apply below the dome a platehaving a circular aperture', which exactly its over a cup or ring roundthe wheel on the mainspring-arbor. The rim or ring ou the friction-plateprevents the ingress of dirt; but should any get past this rim it isstopped by the cup or ring round the wheel on the main spring-arbor. Toprevent accident by winding the wrong way, the under rim of therevolving back is toothed, and a spring or pawltakes into the teeth asthe revolving back is moved round. For this purpose Iattach aspring-pawlto the inside ofthe revolving back to take into ratch-teeth on the edgeof the friction-plate. This part of my invention will bel understood byIigures l to l() of the accompanying drawinn-s.

tIligures l to 7 show a watch in which the winding is effected byrotating the back. Fig. l is an inside 'view ot' the back, and Fig. `2is a section. Fig. 3 is a face view, and Fig. 4 a section, ofthe upperplate ot' the watch. Fig. 5 is a view ofthe back or outside face; Fig.6, a section, and Fig. 7 a view ot' the inside face ot' the dome. a isthe back of the watch; b l), the band; c, the dome, (l, thefriction-plate, and c the upper plate. The back a. is free to rotate onits center, where it carries a wheel, f, which gears into a wheel, g, onthe mainspringarbor. The frictioxrplate d is introduced between therotating back a and the dome c. 7L is an aperture in the friction-plated, and in the dome c, in which aperture the wheelfrevolves. .i is a rimor ring on the plate (l around the aperture h to prevent ingress ot'dirt. k is a plate below and attached to the dome c. This plate k has acircular aperture, l, which lits over a cup or rim, m, round the wheel gon the mainspring-arbor., This cup m prevents any dirt which may getpast the ringe' getting into the works. n n are ratchet-teeth on theedge ot' the friction-plate d. A spring-pawl o on the i-nside of therevolving back a takes into these teeth. In winding the watch, if theoperator attempts'to turn the back a in the wrong direction it isstopped by the pawl o. The manner in which the winding can be effectedby winding the dome is simply to place the wheel fon the under sideofthe dome.

Fig. 8 shows how the winding may be ei fected in at'usee-watch, in whichcase the wheels f and g must continue to move when the watch is going.In this case I employ a separate disk, j, between the dome c and theback a. fis a wheel carried on the inside ot' the revolving diskj, andgearing into a wheel, g, on the fnseearbor. The winding is effected byrot-ating the disk j.

Figs. 9 and 10 show an arrangement, chiefly for fusee watches, in whichthe winding is et'- fected by causing the back a to turn not on its axisbutvon a pin p. The back a. carries between itselt' and the dome acurved rack, q, which gears into the wheelg, which is mounted loosely onthe fusee-arbor. The wheel g carries a pawl,r, which takes intoaratchet-wheel, s, xed on the arbor. t is a stud outside the back to beused in moving the same. In moving the back a into the position seen inFig. 10 the rack q causes the wheel g to rotate, and the pawl 'r takesinto the ratchet-wheel s, and

thereby rotates this wheel and partly winds the mainspring.; but inreturning the back into its normal position, Fig. 9, the pawl r ridesover the ratchet-teeth, and the wheel s, with the arbor, does not turn.

The invention relates, secondly, to setting or adjusting the handswithout opening the case ofthe watch; and it consists of a circularplate, wheels, ratchet, detent, and springs. An arm or slide pieceresting against the detent projects through the case, and when pressedreleases a circular plate, which also projects through the case. By thenrotating this` circular plate a ratchet-wheel thereon actuates aspring-pawl on a toothed-wlieel, so that rotary motion is imparted tothis wheel. This motion is transmitted by an intermediate wheel to thewheel carrying the minute-hand. In some cases I arrange the mechanism sothat when the circular plate is pressed it comes against a wheel, andwhen then revolved the inotionis transmitted to the wheel carrying thehand. This part of my invention is represented in Figs. 11 and 12.

Fig. 11 is a face view of the watch with the dial-plate removed. Fig.12is a similar view of a modified arrangement. In Fig. 11, u is a detent,and 'v its spring. w is an arm or slide piece resting against thedetent, and extending through the edge of the watch-case. The detentbears, as shown, upon and holds a circular plate or disk, which partlyprojects through the edge of the case. By pressing the arm w to releasethe disk x, and by then rotating this disk, a ratchet-wheel, y, thereonactuates a pawl, z, on a toothed wheel, 1, there` byimparting rotarymotion to this wheel. This wheel 1 gears into another wheel, 2, and thiswheel in its turn gearsinto wheel 3, carrying the minute-hand,while apinion, 4, on the spindie of the wheel 2 gears into a wheel, 5, carryingthe hour-hand. Should the operator turn the disk :v in the wrongdirection, the pawl e rides over the teeth of the wheel y, and thewheels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 do not turn. This arrangement applies to duplexstriking and chronometcr watches, in which the hands ought not to bemoved backward. For watches in which the hands may be moved in eitherdirection I prei'er the modification shown in Fi g. 12. Here the disk :vis carried on the end of a spring-arm, 6, which in the normal positionkeeps the disk pressed out, as shown, so that the wheel l does not gearwith the wheel 2; but when the disk is released from the detent u, asbefore explained, and the disk is pressed inward to cause the wheel 1 totake into the wheel 2, and by simultaneously rotating the consists of asnail-piece and a bearing-spring to press thereon. The snail-piece isattached to the barrel or other arbor, and as the mainspriug is beingwound up the pressure of the bearing-spring on the snail-pieceincreases. The force ot' the mainsprin g is thus regulated, because asthe power of the mainspring decreases the pressure of the bearing-springdecreases in proportion. The snail-piece and the bearing-spring are eachprovided with a stop or projection. These stops moet when themainsi'iring is sufficiently wound, and the breaking ot' the mainspringby overwinding is thus obviated. This will be found of great advantagein watches wound by rotating part of the case, as hcreinbet'oredescribed, because in winding the watches in this manner the operatordoos not so readilyT feel when the watch is suiiiciently wound as hedoes in winding by means of a key in the ordinary manner. This part ot'my invention is represented iu Figs. 13 and 14. Fig. 13 shows the partsin their position when the mainspring is down or unwound, and Fig. 14shows them when fully wound. 7 is the mainspring-arbor, and S is thesnail-piece thereon. 9 is the bearing-spring,

which is lixed at 1() to the main wheel or barrel 11 of the watch. 12 isthe stop on the snailpiece, and 13 the stop on the spring. These stops12 and 13 meet, as seen in Fig. 14, when the mainspring is fully wound.Instead of the main wheel 11 gearing into the wheel 14 of the ordinarytrain, I interpose intermediate wheels, 15 and 16, in order that aboutthreeqnarters of a turn of the barrel-arbor may sutice to wind thewatch.

What 1 claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

1. The rotating disk forming part of the ordinary hinged or swingingbackor cap of a watch, and the medium for winding the watch, as described. Y

2. In combination with the rotating back, as described, the toothedfriction-plate d, as and for the purpose set l'orth.

3. -In combination with a. projecting plate or disk, whereby the handscan be set and ad,- justed, a detent, u, spring fv,and projecting arm w,as shown in Fig. 1l, arranged and acting' in the manner and for thepurpose herein described.

4. A snail-piece, S, with stop 12 on the`mainspring-arbor, incombination with a bearingspring, q, with stop 13, Figs. 13 and 14, asand for the purpose described.

ln witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of August,1868.

G. H. \VILSON.

Witnesses l'. (J. NEWBURN, E. M. DANIEL,

Bol/t of 13G Fleet Street, London.

